Lessons Managing in leadership: a global hybrid team

What takeaways can we draw from the pandemic? Fatima Koning, Chief Commercial Officer at IWG, shares what the last five years have taught her about managing a global sales team across 120 markets in the hybrid model

- Fatima Koning

Two and a half years on from the start of the 1 Covid-19 pandemic, it's clear there's been a profound, permanent change in how people want to work. This period has proved that companies can adopt hybrid working policies without affecting their productivity - and this model is now the preferred option for millions of people and businesses around the world.

As Chief Commercial Officer at IWG, I see the difference that hybrid working makes to companies and their employees and, as a mother, I experience these same benefits every day.

As head of a global sales team across 120 markets, I've learned that leadership in a hybrid world is different to traditional people management. Hybrid leadership is a skill to be honed - and one that can boost employees' job performance, as well as their happiness at home.

Consider human relations, not 'human resources'

People brought more of themselves to work than ever during the pandemic. Living through national lockdowns and long periods of forced remote working inspired a new level of honesty about our physical, mental and emotional health, and this kind of authenticity is powerful. It allows for the building of strong, nurturing relationships between leaders and their teams.

Leadership is about looking for what I can bring out in someone and becoming a mother undoubtedly helped shape my perspective.

I realised that when a child is learning to read, you don't worry about what they can do today - you think forward to what they'll be able to do tomorrow, next week, next year, if you support them now.